3 month old baby passing stool after every feed
Your Baby's Growth: 3 Months (for Parents)
Reviewed by: Cristy A. Wong, MD
en español El crecimiento de su bebé: 3 meses
Most babies continue to grow in weight and length this month.
How Much Will My Baby Grow?
The first few months of life are a period of rapid growth. Your baby will gain about 1 to 1½ inches (2.5 to 3.8 centimeters) in length and 1½ to 2 pounds (681 to 907 grams) this month. These are just averages — your baby may grow somewhat faster or slower, and is likely to have growth spurts.
Your baby can go through periods of increased hunger and fussiness. This increase in hunger means your baby is going through a period of fast growth (a growth spurt). If you breastfeed, you might find your baby wants to eat more often (sometimes every hour!) during certain times of the day. This is often called "cluster feeding." Formula-fed babies may want to eat more often or will drink more formula than usual during feedings.
You'll learn to see the signs that tell you that your baby is hungry or when your baby is full. You will know your baby is hungry when she seems restless, cries a lot, sticks out her tongue or sucks on her hands and lips. You will know your baby is full when she is no longer interested in feeding or just falls asleep at the end of a feeding session. Remember, babies' tummies are very small and they need to be burped after feedings to release gas that can cause discomfort.
Your doctor will measure your baby's weight, length, and head circumference and track his or her growth on a standardized growth chart (there are different charts for boys and girls). Your baby might be large, small, or medium-sized. As long as this growth pattern stays consistent over time, chances are your baby's progress is just fine.
If your baby is born prematurely, keep in mind that growth and development should not be compared with that of a full-term child. Preemies will need to be followed more closely and may need to be weighed more often during the first months to make sure they are growing properly.
They have some catching up to do!
Should I Be Concerned?
If your baby is not growing at the expected rate, or the growth rate slows, your doctor will want to make sure your baby is getting enough to eat.
The doctor may ask you about:
- How many feedings a day your baby gets. At 3 months old, a breastfed baby may feed 8 times in a 24-hour day; formula-fed babies usually eat less frequently, about every 4 hours.
- How much your baby eats at each feeding. A baby generally nurses for at least 10 minutes, should be heard to swallow, and should seem satisfied when done. At this age, bottle-fed babies may eat up to 6 to 7 ounces (177–207 milliliters) at each feeding.
- How many bowel movements your baby has each day, and their volume and consistency. Most babies will have 1 or more bowel movements daily, but it may be normal to skip 1 or 2 days if consistency is normal. Breastfed babies' stools should be soft and slightly runny.
The stools of formula-fed babies tend to be a little firmer, but should not be hard or formed.
Most of the time, a baby's growth will be tracked over the next few months during routine well-baby visits. But if your doctor is concerned about your baby's growth, he or she will want to see your baby more often.
What's Next?
Your baby will continue to grow in length and weight at a steady rate. By 4 months, most babies have doubled their birth weight.
Reviewed by: Cristy A. Wong, MD
Date reviewed: January 2019
How often should a newborn poop?
Yes, it's normal if your baby is pooping after every single feeding. You’ll quickly discover that when it comes to newborns, poop frequency comes in a wide range of normal.
Some babies are just more productive poopers than others. It’s perfectly okay to end every feeding with a diaper change, or to not see a single bowel movement for a few days. Your baby pooping a lot probably isn’t an issue, unless you’re changing three or more extra-watery diapers a day.
In that case, it could be diarrhea, which is something to let your baby's doctor know about.
How often should a newborn poop?
It varies. Poop habits differ a lot from baby to baby. The average frequency is one or more bowel movements daily. But some newborns produce five or more dirty diapers a day in their first 2 weeks of life, while others go for days without pooping.
It’s not unusual for newborns to poop a lot, since they spend most of their waking hours eating. In general, breastfed babies poop more than formula-fed ones. In fact, your baby may poop while nursing and again once they’re done – which is why you may want to wait a few minutes after you're finished breastfeeding before swooping in with a clean diaper.
Because breastfed poops contain more liquid, they’ll look more watery than the stools of formula-fed babies. (See real photos of the different kinds of baby poop here.)
When a breastfed newborn poops after every feeding during the first few weeks, take it as a good sign – it means they’re getting plenty of milk.
Even though formula-fed babies may have less frequent bowel movements than breastfed babies, it's normal for them to poop after every feeding as well.
The frequency of your baby's bowel movements may start to slow down by the time they're around 6 weeks old, but some babies continue their pattern of pooping after every feeding for much longer. (It’s not uncommon for some 1-year-olds to poop five times a day.)
How long can a baby go without pooping?
If your baby hasn’t had a bowel movement in a few days, there’s no need to immediately fear the big “C” (aka, constipation). Babies can go days, or even a week, without producing a dirty diaper. A breastfed baby can go even longer – as long as two weeks without pooping if they haven’t started on solid foods yet.
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If the bowel movements your baby does make are soft, constipation probably isn’t an issue. Exclusively breastfed babies rarely get constipated because breastmilk is an economical food.
Your baby gets just what they need, with little waste leftover to poop out.
True constipation in babies typically happens from a change in diet, a lack of fluids, or an illness. The telltale sign is hard, dry stools. If your baby is constipated, they may get extra fussy and look like they’re straining uncomfortably when they try to go.
Should I ever be worried about my baby pooping a lot?
Generally, if your baby's bowel movements are fairly consistent and they’re acting like their usual self, frequent poops aren't a cause for concern. However, if there's a sudden change in your baby's pooping pattern and their stool becomes watery, check with their doctor. Very watery bowel movements could be a sign of an infection.
Call the doctor if your baby has any of these other poop-related symptoms:
- Pulling their legs up to their stomach (a sign that their tummy hurts)
- Straining to have a bowel movement
- Poop that looks like small, hard pebbles or is extra watery
- Irritability
- A swollen belly
- Blood in their poop
If my baby is pooping a lot, are they more prone to diaper rash?
Babies who have frequent bowel movements can be more susceptible to diaper rash.
Constant contact with stool can irritate the sensitive skin on their bottom.
The best way to prevent diaper rash is to keep your baby’s bottom clean and dry. To start, change their diapers more often. Wash their skin clean with warm water during each change.
You may want to coat the area with a diaper rash cream or a product containing zinc oxide or petroleum jelly to create a barrier. And instead of putting on a new diaper right away, let your baby go diaper-less for a little while each day so their bottom can fully air dry. If these tips don’t relieve the diaper rash, give your baby's doctor a call.
Read more:
A new parent's guide to baby poop
Age-by-age guide to feeding your baby
How much formula newborns and babies need
What to do if the child poops after every meal?
A child's stool is one of the most important indicators of the functioning of his digestive system. It perfectly reflects what the baby ate, how much food he ate and how his body reacted to it.
That is why young parents need to constantly check the contents of a newborn's diaper or the discharge of an older child.
However, with such control, many mothers ask - why does the child poop after almost every meal, and is this normal? It’s worth starting with the fact that each baby is individual. How many times he defecates can depend on many factors.
There is no strict standard for this indicator. Of course, constipation or diarrhea are manifestations of indigestion, but there is no need to immediately panic. It is worth understanding the reasons for this phenomenon and consulting with a specialist.
Contents
- How many times should a baby poop?
- Age norms for defecation of children
- Additional criteria for normal stool
How many times should a baby poop?
The first thing young parents should remember is that their child owes nothing to anyone.
The number of visits to the child's toilet depends on many factors
Moments that directly affect the number of bowel movements in a child are:
- Age.
The older the child, the less often it defecates; - The degree of development of the digestive system. This is especially noticeable in newborn boys and girls;
- Power type. Formula-fed babies poop a little less than breast-fed babies;
- Presence of concomitant pathology. A variety of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract can bring an imbalance in the normal mode of defecation from an early age of the baby.
In connection with these nuances, it is necessary to understand that if a child poops after each meal or 1 time in 2 days, then this may be normal in both cases.
The main criteria by which it is worth evaluating the physiology and "normality" of this process are:
- General well-being of the baby. It is necessary to pay attention to the facial expression of the crumbs at the time of defecation, to the sounds that she makes. When instead of the usual groaning there is a loud cry, then something definitely disturbs her;
- Regularity.
8-10 times after each feeding indicates good intestinal motility. However, 1 bowel movement, but every 2 days, is also an indicator of the stability of the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract. The main thing is the well-being of the child; - Presence of pathological impurities. The usual feces are mushy, yellowish in color. If particles of pus, mucus, blood or undigested fragments are found in it, look for it, then you should consult a pediatrician.
Age norms for defecation of children
The older the child, the fewer trips to the toilet should be.
It must be understood that over time, the digestive tract matures more and more and begins to function like in adults. This is manifested by a decrease in the frequency of bowel movements.
To avoid confusion about how many times a baby should poop, there are conditional normative indicators of this process, depending on age.
They look like this:
- 1-3 months - 10-12 times a day.
The child can defecate after each meal; - 3-6 months - 4-7 times a day;
- 6-12 months - 2-3 times;
- In children after 12 months, defecation occurs on average 1-2 times a day. If a child poops after every meal for a year, then you should carefully monitor his diet. Such an increase in the number of bowel movements may indicate the presence of a disease, so it is better to consult a doctor.
Additional criteria for normal stools
In addition to the number of trips to the toilet, parents need to monitor the nature of the feces. This is especially important during the neonatal period. In the first 3 days, when the baby is still in the hospital, doctors constantly ask mothers if he pooped, and how.
stools in children can be both frequent and not very
Important criteria to pay attention to are:
- Number of stools. The first days one bowel movement is approximately 5 g. At 6 months 40-50 g, and closer to a year - 100-150 g;
- Colour.
The original feces (meconium) are green in color. During breastfeeding, yellow remains the most characteristic color. There may be different variations of it, which is due to the individual characteristics of the organism. After the introduction of complementary foods, it begins to darken and closer to the year it can become completely brown; - Smell. In infants who are breastfed, the stool has a slightly acidic odor. Then, as with artificial nutrition, it is more rotten;
- Additional components in the stool. If the mother saw undigested food particles (vegetables, fruits: bananas, apples), white lumps (clots of fat), green streaks of mucus in the feces of a newborn, then you should not immediately panic. In most cases, this is due to the continuing adaptation of the infant's body to the environment. However, impurities such as pus or blood should alert parents. In any case, it is better to contact the local pediatrician for advice.
Watching your baby's bowel movements is a very serious responsibility in the early stages of his life.
Therefore, it is very important to understand what is worth paying attention to. If the child poops after every meal, he may be ill and needs the help of a doctor. The health of children is the most precious thing for their parents.
how to recognize, causes, treatment, how to stop diarrhea in a baby?
Every mother knows that babies poop frequently: a breastfed baby may have the same bowel movements as the feeding frequency. And babies often have tummy ache and colic due to the fact that the gastrointestinal tract is completely immature and is just beginning to be populated by beneficial bacteria. Therefore, it is not always clear to a young mother whether everything is fine with her baby. How do you know when something is wrong?
For a baby under three months old, the normal frequency is three to six times a day if the baby is breastfed, and about two times a day if he is formula-fed. At the same time, the frequency of the stool can also change normally, due to the fact that the baby was nervous or the mother changed the menu.
Therefore, when talking about diarrhea in a baby, they first of all take into account not how often he poops, but the volume and nature of the stool, as well as the behavior of the baby himself.
You can suspect diarrhea in a baby if he poops twice as often as usual, the stool becomes much thinner (in a breastfed baby, it is usually liquid and poorly formed), changes color, pathological impurities appear in it: a lot of mucus, blood, foam, undigested food particles, if complementary foods have already begun. The behavior of the baby also changes: he cries, presses his legs to his chest, or, conversely, stretches out to the line. The tummy may swell and growl.
If the diarrhea is caused by an infection, the child has a fever and becomes lethargic.
Causes of diarrhea in infants
The most common cause of diarrhea in infants is dysbiosis, that is, a change in the composition of the intestinal microflora. This may be due to a viral or bacterial infection, but usually occurs for other reasons such as:
- late attachment to the breast;
- artificial feeding;
- products not according to age;
- use of antibiotics;
- food allergy;
- lactose intolerance;
- chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract (ulcerative colitis and others).
One way or another, all these conditions disrupt the normal balance between beneficial and harmful microbes in the intestines, and consequently, digestion and intestinal motility: too much fluid remains in the intestinal lumen, which causes diarrhea.
Treatment of diarrhea in children
Seek immediate medical attention if:
- there is blood in the baby's stool;
- diarrhea accompanied by vomiting;
- the child has a fever;
- the baby stops peeing or peeing less than four times a day;
- no tears during crying, skin and mucous membranes become dry;
- fontanel sinks;
- the baby's skin, if folded, does not straighten out immediately.
If your baby is stable, you can try to manage the diarrhea on your own. Change diapers more often: feces irritate baby's delicate skin. If complementary foods are introduced, cancel it, leave only breast milk or formula that the baby eats constantly.
Give the child a drink. Adherents of breastfeeding argue that the baby has enough liquid contained in breast milk. This is true, but only if the child is healthy. During diarrhea, fluid loss increases several times, and it is dehydration that is the most common cause of death from intestinal infections. You can supplement it with plain boiled water, but it is better with a special solution of salts, which are also actively lost during diarrhea (Regidron, Trisol, Ringer's Solution, Humana Electrolyte). If the child is older than nine months, you can give rice water.
To restore the normal balance of microflora, you can (and should) give probiotics. The best option is a complex of bifido- and lactobacilli. Both are important for normal digestion and microbial balance. You can start taking probiotics before visiting your doctor.
Note
Probiotics are sold in pharmacies in various forms: tablets, capsules, sachets (powder in sachets).
